Motion asks judge for Stevens’ acquittal

Alaska  Defense lawyers said that U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens’ month-long trial was unfair, flawed and prejudiced against him in dozens of ways and asked that he be tried anew, this time in Alaska.

The motion for a new trial, filed Friday in Washington, D.C., was accompanied by a separate motion asking the judge in the case to overrule the jury and direct an acquittal.

That would go a step further than asking for a new trial — it would entirely void the verdict in which Stevens was convicted Oct. 27 of seven counts of failure to disclose gifts and other benefits, and let him walk a free man.

Stevens’ lawyers also renewed a pretrial motion to dismiss six of the seven counts as duplications of the first.

They also asked the judge to allow them to file some exhibits in support of their motions under seal because the exhibits refer to personal information about jurors and to the ongoing investigation by the government into political corruption.

Under an earlier schedule set by U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, the government has until Jan. 9 to respond to the defense’s post-trial motions. A hearing is set for Feb. 25.